A variety of occupations require workers to come into close contact with hot equipment, hot substances open flames, and electric arcs and the like. For example, oil refinery, petro chemical workers, electricians, military personnel, etc. typically operate in such environments. In order to minimize their risk of injury from the hot elements, such workers typically wear flame resistant apparel.
Flame resistant garments are generally made from flame resistant materials such as those made from aramid fibers (including meta-aramids and para-aramids), melamine fibers, or those treated with flame resistant “FR” chemistries. Prior protective garments have focused strictly on flame resistant protection and durability, since the garments must provide good protection to the wearer, and must withstand hazardous environments. In addition, because many garments are often laundered under industrial wash conditions, they must be capable of withstanding a number of such industrial launderings in order to have an acceptable useful life. For example, it is generally considered by the purchasers of these garments that the garments must last through a minimum of 125 industrial launderings. Therefore, the prior garments, which have tended to perform relatively well from the standpoint of protection and durability, have been extremely deficient in aesthetic characteristics such as wearer comfort. For example, they are known to be stiff and to have a harsh handle, and they are generally considered to be hot and uncomfortable to the wearers. Not only is the discomfort typically associated with these garments a source of displeasure to the wearers, but it may discourage them from wearing the equipment that would optimize their protection, thereby jeopardizing their safety. Furthermore, these garments are typically so uncomfortable as to require an undergarment of some sort to protect the wearer's skin, which can be undesirable when the garment is to be worn in hot environments.
There are two general types of FR apparel fabrics currently in the market. The first category is that of inherently flame resistant fibers (such as aramids, melamines, etc.) and the second category achieves flame resistance primarily through the subsequent application of chemistry to the fiber. Fabrics of inherently FR fibers are generally considered to provide greater durability, while chemically-treated fabrics (such as FR cotton) are often considered to provide a lesser degree of durability but at a lesser degree of discomfort to the wearer.
Past attempts to improve the comfort of FR garments have generally been directed to the garment construction, e.g. through the provision of garment vents and the like. As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the garment construction modifications made to enhance comfort can have a negative effect on wearer protection.
Therefore, a need exists for fabrics and garments that provide a good degree of FR protection to users, while providing a greater degree of user comfort and improved aesthetic characteristics. In addition, a need exists for a method of enhancing the aesthetic characteristics of FR fabrics and garments.